Kick him or hug him?

It's definitely a toss up. The good news is, Frank definitely has a new job starting Monday. He is VERY happy about it. They hired Frank, his sales partner, and the 4 girls that were laid off too. So that is the very good thing.

The other part of the story. . .
I went to help him at his office move all the crap out. I really went cause he needed his truck (side note: I love riding in his truck, and looking at it, but I'm NEVER driving it again! It's a 55 Ford, no seat belt, no speedometer, no telling if you are in drive, the brake and gas are practically on top of each other, NEVER again!). Well, I get there and one of the girls spilled the beans that they all knew yesterday that they were going to close the office. WHAT?!?!? And he didn't tell me!??! I guess he didn't want me to stress out and lose sleep over it. So he avoided me all night until he got home from soccer and I was in bed. I guess it's better, because I wouldn't have slept and goodness knows, I need my sleep!

Five things I was doing ten years ago...
1.) Looking forward to graduating high school.
2.) Hanging out WAY too much with my boyfriend(s)
3.) Just finishing up my last year in the colorguard.
4.) Counting down the days to graduation
5.)"Sluffing" (it's a UT term) school and going to my house, especially on a snowy day to eat nasty boxed pasta and hot chocolate with Michelle and Steph.

Five things on my to-do list today...
1.) Work
2.)Find my husband a job.
3.)Work
4.)Go to drop off my sister a package at Fedex
5.)Work

Five snacks I enjoy...
1.)Ben and Jerry's Phish Food Ice Cream
2.)Yogurt
3.)Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
4.)Beef Jerkey
5.)Lately peanut butter, honey, and butter sandwiches.

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire...
1.) Support ourselves!
2.) Buy at least 5 acres and build my dream home on it
3.) Buy my Dodge Viper
4.) Help my sisters and Mom out.
5.) Travel

Three of my bad habits...
1.) Leaving my make-up on at night...I know, I know it's bad for your skin...I'm just sooo tired! (I'm stealing this from Steph)
2.) Not keeping my house cleaned
3.) Sleeping too much.

Five places I have lived...
1.) Smithfield, UT
2.) Spokane, WA
3.) Oahu, HI
4.) Panama City, FL
5.) San Francisco, CA

Five jobs I've had...
1.) Callaway's Pizza
2.) USU Catering waitress
3.) Surf Shop Sales
4.) Mortgage Consultant
5.) Business Owner/Bookkeeper

Five things people probably don't know about me...
1.) I have OCD about tangled phone cords
2.) I couldn't name the singer of a song if my life depended on it.
3.) I count stuff just for the fun and to zone out.
4.) I sleep WAY too much.
5.) My husband cares more about clothes and shoes than I do (and that's saying a LOT).

Okay, I tag, Stephanie (my sister), Nicole, Chantel, Kylene, Alesa

Blessing in Disguise?

Wow! It's been a roller coaster of a day!

First of all Frank got rear ended last night. Not bad, just enough to have to deal with the hassle.

Today I get a phone call from Frank and the company that he is working for is closing their doors at 5:00 this afternoon. EEEKK!! Of course, I immediately start freaking out about not just losing the money, but also, and mostly, of losing our insurance. This is NOT good timing!

So then Frank gets a phone call from a competing company regional manager and he wants to meet with Frank. He met with them and he might go work with him making the same that he was making before the huge pay cuts he took in June and September. It might really be the answer to our prayers. Frank has been looking for a job for a while (not real hard because he felt such loyalty to his company) so this might be a blessing because it puts him back into the making real money category.

Bizarre Pregnancy Dreams

I think I mentioned before that I've been having really weird dreams. Most of them I can't even explain because they are so strange, but last night's actually made sense. Well, I should say sense, but it had least had somewhat of a story line.

Frank and I decided that I would carry the baby and the pregnancy for 8 months and then he'd be pregnant the last month and do the delivery. So I was there coaching him the whole time and I was the one to deliver the baby. It was a girl by the way. Then afterwards, we just got up and went shopping and to dinner and while we were at dinner (CAUTION: THIS PART IS KINDA GROSS) I delivered the placenta through my mouth!!! It was VERY strange. Oh, BTW, it was a girl! Maybe that's telling me something!

Candy Canes regular or flavored? Or chocolate covered cherries?

I LOVE regular flavored candy canes! I wish I could have them all year long. For some reason they aren't the same as peppermint disk, it's the candy cane that I love. I like the flavored ones too, but not as much.

Blech to chocolate covered cherries. I have never liked them. They are WAY too slimy for me! I only like cherries when they are real cherries in the summer or marachino (I know I just botched the spelling on that one!) cherries on top of ice cream. And they have to be cold.

do you have a nativity displayed?

I wish! See the answer below. I kinda did Christmas decorations only half way this year. I lost all my umphh when I figured out I'm leaving in only a week and a half.

I do love my nativity that I have. My Mom brought it from Jerusalem and it's made out of Olive wood.

What's on top of your tree?

This year nothing. I wasn't able to get my tree up this year. On Sunday I was going to put it up and I looked at a calendar and realized that I was leaving for UT in a week and a half and decided it wasn't worth the work of the mess. It's just not worth decorating when you aren't even going to be there for Christmas.

Christmas in California

It's not quite the same without the snow, but I try really hard to make it feel like Christmas, even though I can never quite get into the Christmas spirit around here. It's not the same without family nearby.

Here's the house from the outside. Frankie had just put all the lights on and they blew! Darn safety fuses! He fixed them, that's why I call him McGyver! He can fix anything! When we were on the East coast last year for Christmas I fell in love with it, but only for Christmas time! No place does Christmas like the East Coast (and believe me, I've lived everywhere from Hawaii to Florida for Christmas). All the houses had little candles in the window, so Frank bought me some this year so that's what the two little lights are in the upstairs windows.

Steph asked for pictures of my garland above my cabinets so here it is. (I'm not much of a photographer!)

Sweet Dreams

I don't know what's up with me, but I've been super chatty lately! Now that I can talk about the pregnancy because everyone knows I don't I don't have to be worried about accidentally saying something someone might pick up on.

Anyway, yesterday when we went to Babies R Us we bought me a snoogle. I LOVE it! I slept the best than I have in a long time! Even before pregnancy. If you have problems getting comfortable at night BUY one!

It's not your average body pillow. It's C-shaped, which at first I thought would totally bug me, but I love it! It's perfect I think I rolled over once during the night is all, and that's because my ear fell asleep
(I don't know, don't ask). You can lay with the pillow part on your tummy, or on your back. When it's on your back it really helps to support your back. I guess it will also help later in pregnancy when you aren't supposed to lay on your back because the pillow wraps around your back either way you sleep on it and so it's not comfortable to lay on your back. Another good point, if your husband snores make him use it! :D When Frank saw me laying with it, he asked if they would take turns cuddling me.

Speaking of dreams, I've had the strangest dreams since I've been pregnant. Not dreams about being pregnant, just REALLY out there dreams. They are so weird when I tell Frank I had a weird dream and he asks me what about, I can't even begin to explain them. My sister, Alesa, says that's how she knows she's pregnant, cause she starts having weird dreams, so I guess it's normal.

Do you have any traditions?

I'm a big fan of traditions, but Frank and I have yet to start any of our own. I guess once we actually have kids it will be easier to start them. One of my favorite traditions growing up was getting new pj's on Christmas Eve from my Mom. She would put them in these funny 3D boxes that she had. We all had our own. I don't remember which one mine was, but I remember Alesa's was shaped like a space ship with an astronaut in it.

Another tradition that I loved was going to my Grandma's house on Christmas Eve. We would always perform the Christmas Story and fight over who was going to be Mary. Grandpa would always threaten that he set a trap for Santa so he wasn't going to be coming this year. Then on the way home we would watch out the van windows for Santa in the sky.

Baby Shopping

Frankie and I went to Babies R Us today to pick up a body pillow so that maybe I'll be more comfortable when I sleep. That "quick trip" turned into an all afternoon affair of starting a registry. It was fun to just go through scanning stuff. We registered for our wedding online so we didn't scan anything, so it was a new experience for us. I can't believe how much stuff a baby needs! We didn't even look at that much stuff, but it made us both very tired and very overwhelmed. There are WAY too many choices!

When do you start decorating?

NEVER before Thanksgiving. I think it's absolutely against all the rules when you skip one holiday and decorate before it's over. I try to get it done the weekend of Thanksgiving, but this year it has taken us longer. The garage getting cleaned took precedence over the decorations. So I did the one decoration on the front porch I already showed the picture of, and I put the garland above the kitchen cabinets. Then today we hung the icicle lights on the roof and I did some of the lights outside and some of the stuff that goes inside. I still need to go to Jo's house and pick up the rest of the Christmas boxes and then tomorrow I'll put it up why Frankie is golfing. He's a little bit of a Scrooge this year, so it's better if I just do it without him.

*sigh of relief*

So I went to get the echo done this afternoon and I can finally relax. I woke up stressing about this in the middle of the night. It's amazing how the middle of the night can make you stress about stuff that you don't think about in the middle of the day. Anyway, the ultrasound person told me that she saw the murmur, actually both of the them, the Pulmonic (I think that was the word she used) and also the tricuspid, but that neither of them was anything to get excited about. She said the Pulmonic is the same thing 99% of the population has and the tricuspid would be classified as "normal" or on the very verge of mild. It's not the official word from the cardiologist, but it's a least a relief. We'll see what the OB says on Monday.

Mistletoe?

I haven't ever been able to find real mistletoe around here, and I refuse to hang the fake stuff. Maybe this weekend I'll go to the nursery and see if they have it. Growing up we always had it out our house. One year we never took it down. I think it probably hung there for 5 years before we repainted and took it down.

Baby Names

When I went to UT I got to go to dinner with a few friends from high school. It was a lot of fun to catch up with them. Michelle is pregnant and is due this month. Her and her husband still haven't thought of a name for their baby boy. It got me really freaked out about it (something else to stress out about for the next 6 months)! So I immediately came home and started to think of names and make Frank join in. Needless to say, we solved the dilema in about 2 days. I thought it would be a lot harder than it was. With a last name of DeVito you have to have pretty traditional if not Italian names. I have a problem with Italian, because boy Italian names are really long, hard to pronounce, usually have a lot of z and v's in them and are only sound cool if you are in Italy or have an Italian accent (something of which I nor Frankie do). The other problem with naming boys is that everyone in Frank's family is named Frank or Vincent (yes, he has at least one Cousin Vinnie). I refuse to have another Frankie, it's WAY too confusing for me!

Girl names were a completely different story. I love Italian girl names. Sophia, Isabella, Maria, Olivia. When Frank and I first started dating, I told him that I had to marry him because I've always loved Italian girl names. Well, I forgot about the boy part.

Needless to say, I came up with some that would work. Isabella McKaylynn (Izzy or Ella for short) and Joseph Frank (Joey for short). It works out well. Isabella happens to be Frank's grandma and McKaylynn is a mix between my Dad, Grandma, and my Mom. Joseph is Frank's dad's middle name and Frank and his Dad obviously have the middle name.

Wrapped or unwrapped?

Santa never comes to this house, guess we aren't good enough. Growing up the presents were always unwrapped from Santa, I think it was because it was less mess and work for Santa.

I always wrap the gifts that I give. I like wrapping presents. I'm not great at it, but I like it. Someday when I have a bigger house I want a gift wrapping room, at least a closet. I wrapped really nice gifts when I worked at JCPenney and had to wrap. They have the nice paper and the perfect height to wrap them at.

Frank and I have never talked about the fact if we would wrap gifts or not. I'll have to ask him that. The things you don't think to find out until you are married! I should add it to the list of what to talk about before marriage.

Favorites

First time for everything

1.Who was your first prom date?
Nick Call

2. Do you still talk to your first love?
I had my first love when I was 4 and I begged him to marry me. I don't talk to him anymore.

4. What was your first job?
Not counting baby sitting, catering at USU

5. What was your first car?
96 Cutlass Olds

6. Who was the first person to text you today?
Frankie

7. Who is the first person you thought of this morning?
I woke up stressing out about one of my clients.

8. Who was your first grade teacher?
Miss Mauer, she came to my birthday that year.

9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
Seattle with the marching band (I think).

10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
I never snuck out, I just would stay out late. My house was WAY too far from civilization to sneak out anywhere.

11. Who was your FIRST best friend?
Christa Winn

12. Where was your first sleep over?
I have no idea.

13. Who was the first person you talked to this morning?
Frank, barely. I mumbled to him as he left for work.

14.Whose was the first wedding you were in?
I guess my sister, but I wasn't really "in it."

15. What was the first thing you did this morning?
ate cereal so I wouldn't pass out and die.

16. What was the first concert you ever went to?
Peter, Paul, and Mary with my family

17. First tattoo or piercing?
ears

18. First foreign country you went to?
Mexico

20. When was your first detention?
In the 8th grade when Mr. Haderly thought that I threw cheese in his classroom window (I didn't!).

21.First state you lived in?
UT

22. Who was the first person to break your heart?
My ex-husband.

23. Who was your first roommate?
I can't remember their names, it was a long time ago.

Favorite Holiday Dish

Definitely Monkey bread! YUMMY!! My Mom makes it every year on Christmas morning. It's like a cinnamon pull apart, but it has butterscotch on it as well. It is so yummy. I think it's the only time of year that she makes it. I'm looking forward to Christmas morning this year, just for that. Could be that I'm starting to have cravings!

Stress and worry

As most of you know, when I was 16 I had open heart surgery to repair 3 holes in my heart. The last time I was checked I was 19 at that point the murmur that I had before the surgery (since I was 19 mons. old) was gone. I went to the cardiologist yesterday. At 19, they told me that the next time I needed to get checked again was when I got pregnant. He told me that he heard the same kind of murmur that I had before. He didn't make me feel very comfortable about it. He doesn't know what it is or why it's there. I'm having an echocardiogram done on Friday, but I won't get the results back until 10 days later. I'm hoping that when I go to the OB on Monday next week, he'll be able to call the cardiologist and get the results sooner.

I tried googling it (I'm the queen of google searches) but the only thing I can find on it is in medical language that I can't understand. SO if anyone out there has any medical knowledge and wants to tell me what it says about tricuspid murmurs during pregnancy, I'd really appreciate it!

I'm not worried that it's anything that could kill me. Heck, I lived with it for 16 years before, what's another 6 months. I'm just thinking about having surgery again and that scares the crap out of me. I don't think I can deal with the pain again. It makes my chest hurt just thinking about it. Come to think of it, I wonder which is worse, childbirth or having your chest muscles ripped off the bone and then stitched back together. I'll let you know in 6 months.

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?

Definitely hot cocoa! With mint and whipped cream please! I like one cup of egg nog with sprite about once a year, but on a cold rainy day I love a cup of hot chocolate!

White or colored lights?

My sister is doing a holiday question of the day, so I'm going to follow her. I'm a couple of days behind, so I figured I'd just start at the beginning.

I prefer white lights. There's nothing I love more at Christmas (okay there are probably a few things, but one of my favorites) is when a house has it all outlined in perfectly straight white lights with the snow on top. Unfortunately here in CA we don't get the snow on top part. Maybe I'll be lucky this year and get snow in UT. It's been a LONG time since I've seen a white Christmas. I love my tree to be all white and silver, or white and one other color. I think it's so elegant.

Body Worlds

AMAZING! If you ever go get the chance to see this exhibit ~ GO! I thought that I might be a grossed out by it, but everything looks fake so it's not gross. It's the most fascinating thing I've ever seen. Being that I'm pregnant, my favorite part was the fetus'. They had a 14 week fetus still inside the uterus that they had cut open (the uterus), being that I'm 14 weeks it was REALLY cool to see exactly what my baby looks like, not a CG image, not an ultrasound, but the actual baby. They also had the embryo's from 4 weeks until 8 weeks. At 8 weeks it was amazing you could see the eyes and the spine and the fingers and toes beginning to form. They also had a woman with the baby still inside of her. They opened up her abdomen and showed the baby, that was amazing!

The only thing that really made me realize that they were real people was one of them still had most of his skin on and on his hand you could see a tattoo, that was weird. That made it real, that they weren't just plastic. He had the hair still too which was really strange.

They also had a heart that was sitting in the pericardium still. That was really cool to see that, because that's what was used to repair the holes in my heart.

If I was a smoker before I went, I definitely wouldn't be after going there. In one exhibit they had a normal lung, a smoker's lung, and then a coal miner's lung. The smokers lung was really bad, but the coal miner's lung was horrific! It looked like a lump of coal. It gave me a new respect for coal miners!

Like I said if this is exhibit is anywhere near you spend the $20 a go. It's breathtaking!

Nesting

Wow! I guess what they say about nesting when you are pregnant is true. I've been on a rampage this past week. Frank and I took two full size house and between the 2 of us 30 years of living on our own and combined them into one house when we got married. It was very tight! The garage has been a complete disaster and stuffed full since we have moved in together. Just to do laundry (in CA the houses are so small that they all have the laundry in the garage to save space), you practically had to be a gymnast to get to the machine. We have just had so much other stuff going on that we haven't had a chance to go through it all and clean it out. Plus, the garage is NOT my domain of organization!

This week I listed practically everything in our house for sale on Craigslist! We are selling a car, Momo wheels that have been in the garage for 3 years, an aquarium stand, a couch, renting a room (in the house I own). This week as soon as I can get pictures taken I'm going to be putting on 2 or 3 receivers, MORE wheels (who has 2 sets of brand new wheels laying around their house, besides Frank De Vito), and whatever else I can find, I'm sure!

Then yesterday after weeks, no make that months of talking about it, we finally got started on the garage. We went and bought some cabinets to go in it and we went to. We stuffed three car loads of stuff to go to Goodwill. I'm so happy about it. It's so nice to go to that laundry with out breaking an ankle. I don't know how I would do that when I get huge!

I'll post a picture of the after when I get a chance to take one.

I'm becoming domestic

And they said it couldn't be done (really I guess it was me that said that)!

I have cooked twice this week. Hey, no giggling! That's a record. I do run a business and work late most nights. On Sunday I made a pot roast and veggies and fed about 10 of our friends with it. Then yesterday I cooked a turkey breast and potatoes. Okay, it was all crock-pot cooking, I have to confess (I think it's impossible to ruin that). Frank even said the turkey and gravy was about the best he's ever had. Way to go me!! He comes from an Italian family of amazing cooks! And if you don't know Frank, he's not one to sugar coat things to make me feel better. I was very proud of myself.

Also, today I even got creative (something I NEVER do) and put together a flower arrangement for Christmas. I'm quite excited about it. When I was in UT Stephanie (my very creative sister, they are both creative, I think by time the gene got around to me there was nothing left) helped me pick out all the flowers to use and so today I put it together. It's still missing some large ornaments that I bought for it (they got left in UT) but I should have them next week and then it will be finished. Stephanie did consult through pictures to get it perfect, but I did most of it on my own. It has white lights in it too. I'll have to take a picture once it's dark.